The UAW Files Labor Charges Against Elon Musk and Donald Trump

UAW President Shawn Fain says that Musk and Trump attempted to "threaten and intimidate" workers.

Photo by: United Auto Workers

By: Jeff Perez

Aug 13, 2024 at 12:16pm ET

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump held a two-hour joint conference on X (formerly Twitter).
The UAW says that Musk and Trump used language meant to "threaten and intimidate" workers who plan to strike.
Under federal labor laws, it is illegal to fire workers who plan to strike.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) is filing federal labor charges against Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump. During a joint conference on Monday evening on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the UAW said that Musk and Trump used language meant to "threaten and intimidate" workers.

"You're the greatest cutter," Trump said to Musk during the two-hour conversation. "I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, 'You want to quit?' They go on strike." Trump continued, "I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, 'That’s okay, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.'"

The UAW notes that it is illegal to fire workers under federal labor law while it is also illegal to threaten workers who plan to strike under the National Labor Relations Act. UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that this type of language against workers is "disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns."

The UAW and President Shawn Fain have been critical of Trump recently. Fain noted in a video on Monday that, “Donald Trump is all talk, but Kamala Harris has delivered for auto workers.” In that same video, the UAW endorsed Kamala Harris for President of the United States.